Hoofbeats of the night
by Azar's Curse
Summary: What if Nyx's powers weren't only reserved for humans?
1. Chapter 1

Merla dozed quietly in her stable, her eyes half closed. The mare flicked an ear occasionally. The night suddenly turned eerily quiet. Merla opened her eyes, nickering softly to the old stallion next door. No one replied. Merlas pulled herself up onto her hooves, poking her head out over her half-door. All her eyes saw was mist. She nickered again softly.

_Merla, the night has chosen you. Go on and seek your destiny at the House of Night_.

Merla's forehead seemed to burn for a moment. She let out a shrill whinny, shaking her head. Although she couldn't see it, a crescent moon had been drawn in white hair on her black forehead. Abnormal power surged through the great mare's muscles as she reared up, smashing her front hooves into the wooden door over and over again until she could escape. With splinters lodged in her hooves and tiny rivulets of blood running down her flanks, Merla thundered off into the night.

Lenobia was in the middle of a class when she sensed the rapid approach of another horse. Leaving Zoey Redbird in charge, she rushed out to the gates to let in a sorry looking mare. Her eyes wandered briefly to the outline of the crescent moon on the horse's forehead before gently grasping a handful of the mare's mane and leading her towards the stables.

"Zoey, I want the poultices and bandages from the tack room, and get me some hot water," Lenobia said calmly, grabbing a halter and slipping it over Merla's nose. The mare looked sorry for herself. Her black coat was matted with blood, she leant heavily on her back hooves to relieve the pain in her front hooves.

Lenobia spend an hour pulling every single splinter from Merla's hooves and carefully wiping the blood from her coat before cleaning the shallow cuts. Cool poultices were applied to her hooves, bandaged in place. She found herself in a cozy stable, lying on a bed of fresh straw. Zoey leant on the half-door of the stable, gazing at the mare.

"Lenobia, why did she come here?"

The Horse Mistress said nothing for a moment. "She is the first of a new race, and will not be the last."

"You mean, Nyx is Marking horses?"

"It would seem so…"


	2. Chapter 2

Hoofbeats of the Night: Chapter 2

Merla slept like a log that night, not bothered by the sounds of the day or the other horses. When she awoke, the sun was setting over the horizon, giving way to a new night, a new day for the vampyres and fledglings of the House of Night. She shook herself, straw dust rising in a cloud from her black coat. She poked her head over the half door, looking along the aisle. Several other horse heads were looking out, waiting for something. Merla reached out her nose to the horse in the next stall, a silvery stallion. The horse squealed in anger, trying to bite her nose. Merla flattened her ears against her neck, jumping to the back of her stable.

It soon became clear to Merla what the other horses were waiting for. Lenobia came striding down the aisle, her arms full of feed buckets. A few fledglings followed her with even more buckets, depositing them to the waiting horses. Lenobia opened the door into Merla's stable, putting the bucket down on the straw. The mare planted her nose into the bucket, starting to wolf down the mixture of oats and barley.

"What's your name, young one?" She murmured, stroking Merla's neck. The mare hoovered up the last few grains in her bucket before raising her head to look Lenobia in the eye.

"Merla," She nickered, or she thought she nickered. The name came out clear as crystal in English.

Moments later, with a rustle of velvet, another woman swept into the stables. Merla would soon learn that her name was Nefret, and that she was the High Priestess of the House of Night. Nefret breezed into Merla's stall, confronting Lenobia.

"So, where is this mare who seems to have been Marked by our beloved goddess Nyx?" She asked.

"Right here, Nefret. She has just told me that her name is Merla." Lenobia replied. Merla shied away from Nefret. There was something about her that she didn't like, something in the way she carried herself. She shook her mane, stretching out her neck to nose at the High Priestess. Nefret shifted away from the contact.

Merla spend the day resting in her stall after the poultices had been taken off her hooves. She would be allowed a little light work with the third formers. Lenobia had found her an old copy of _The Fledgling Handbook_ for her to read. It took her a while to master the art of turning the pages with her lips, but then she settled down to read in peace.

Zoey Redbird showed a new fledgling to Merla's stall at the start of the sixth hour. The fledgling let herself into the stable. Merla looked up from her book, hauling herself to her feet and going to nose at the girl.

"Merla, this is Rachel, Rachel, Merla." Zoey said with a smile. "Rachel will be looking after you for now."

Rachel gently stroked Merla's neck before running her hands over the half-healed cuts on her flanks. The mare shied away from the touch.

"Sorry, girl," Rachel murmured, slipping out of the stable.

Within half an hour, Merla found herself in the arena, trotting round in circles on a lunge line. Lenobia and Rachel stood in the centre of the ring, encouraging her onwards. Merla shook her mane, leaning heavily on her back hooves. She was allowed to stop, and was taken back to her stall. Rachel spent the rest of the lesson carefully grooming every inch of the mare's black coat and plaiting ribbons into her mane and tail. As one of the first of her kind, Merla was going to join in her first ritual at the house of night.


End file.
